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False Allegations of Sexual Assault 47VAW3877VAW161210.1177/1077801210387747Lisak et al.Violence Against Women Symposium on False Allegations of Rape Violence Against Women 16(12) 1318 –1334 False Allegations of Sexual © The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: http://www. Assualt: An Analysis of Ten sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1077801210387747 Years of Reported Cases http://vaw.sagepub.com David Lisak1, Lori Gardinier2, Sarah C. Nicksa2, and Ashley M. Cote2 Abstract One of the most controversial disputes affecting the discourse related to violence against women is the dispute about the frequency of false allegations of sexual assault. In an effort to add clarity to the discourse, published research on false allegations is critiqued, and the results of a new study described. All cases (N = 136) of sexual assault reported to a major Northeastern university over a 10-year period are analyzed to determine the percentage of false allegations. Of the 136 cases of sexual assault reported over the 10-year period, 8 (5.9%) are coded as false allegations. These results, taken in the context of an examination of previous research, indicate that the prevalence of false allegations is between 2% and 10%. Keywords false allegations, sexual assault Rape is unique. No other violent crime is so fraught with controversy, so enmeshed in dispute and in the politics of gender and sexuality. For example, despite decades of careful social science research, prevalence rates are still frequently challenged on political grounds, and bold assertions are made in the absence of any data (e.g., MacDonald, 2008; Roiphe, 1993). And within the domain of rape, the most highly charged area of debate concerns the issue of false allegations. For centuries, it has been asserted and assumed that women “cry rape,” that a large proportion of rape allegations are maliciously concocted for purposes of revenge or other motives. Most famously, Sir Matthew Hale, a chief justice of the court of the King’s bench of England, expressed this view in a form that became the basis for 1University of Massachusetts Boston 2Northeastern University, Boston, MA Corresponding Author: David Lisak, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston MA, 02125 Email: [email protected] Lisak et al. 1319 special jury instructions that would be used late into the 20th century (Schafran, 1993). Hale (1847) wrote, It is true rape is a most detestable crime, and therefore ought severely and impar- tially to be punished with death; but it must be remembered, that it is an accusation easily to be made and hard to be proved, and harder to be defended by the party accused, tho never so innocent. (p. 634) The heated public discourse about the frequency of false rape allegations often makes no reference to actual research. When the discourse does make reference to research, it often founders on the stunning variability in research findings on the frequency of false rape reports. A recently published comprehensive review of studies and reports on false rape allegations listed 20 sources whose estimates ranged from 1.5% to 90% (Rumney, 2006). However, when the sources of these estimates are examined carefully it is clear that only a fraction of the reports represent credible studies and that these credible studies indi- cate far less variability in false reporting rates. Before examining the sources of these varying estimates of the frequency of false rape allegations, it is important to identify the key methodological issues that make this a uniquely challenging area of research. Key Methodological Issues The Definition of a False Allegation As in any domain of research, you cannot accurately measure what you cannot reliably define. Unfortunately, many published reports either do not explicitly define what consti- tutes a false rape allegation or they rely on data that demonstrably include many cases that fall outside the parameters of accepted definitions. To classify a case as a false allegation, a thorough investigation must yield evidence that a crime did not occur. This definition has been most clearly and explicitly articulated by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) in its comprehensive model policy and accompanying issues paper on the investigation of sexual assault cases (IACP, 2005a, 2005b): The determination that a report of sexual assault is false can be made only if the evidence establishes that no crime was committed or attempted. This determination can be made only after a thorough investigation. This should not be confused with an investigation that fails to prove a sexual assault occurred. In that case the inves- tigation would be labeled unsubstantiated. The determination that a report is false must be supported by evidence that the assault did not happen. (IACP, 2005b, pp. 12-13; italics in original) “Evidence that the assault did not happen” might include, for example, physical evi- dence and/or statements from credible witnesses that contradict key aspects of a victim’s 1320 Violence Against Women 16(12) account. Such evidence would be distinct from more general “credibility” evidence, for example, a delayed report; an apparent inconsistency in the victim’s statement – which has often been used by police investigators to discount a rape victim’s report (e.g., Kelly, Lovett, & Regan, 2005; Lea, Lanvers, & Shaw, 2003). Law enforcement organizations have also issued guidelines on what does not constitute a false allegation (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 1997, 2004; IACP, 2005b). Examples of factors that do not, by themselves, mean that a case is a false allegation include: • A case in which the victim decides not to cooperate with investigators. Victims make such decisions for many reasons (Jordan, 2004; Lea et al., 2003 ). • A case in which investigators decide that there is insufficient evidence to proceed toward a prosecution. Rape cases, particularly nonstranger cases, are very dif- ficult to investigate and prosecute, and many investigations are aborted because of these difficulties and because of the perception that successful prosecution is unlikely (Clark & Lewis, 1977; Frazier & Haney, 1996; Frohmann, 1991; Spohn, Beichner, & Davis-Frenzel, 2001). • A case in which the victim appears to make inconsistent statements, or even lies about certain aspects of the incident. Traumatized individuals tend to recall events in a fragmented fashion, which makes apparent inconsistencies likely (Halligan, Michael, Clark, & Ehlers, 2003); victims may well try to hide certain facts, for example, use of an illegal drug or a particularly humiliating act they suffered—out of fear that they will be treated with suspicion or simply because of the intense shame they experience (Jordan, 2004). • A case in which a victim makes a delayed report of the incident or in which a vic- tim was extremely intoxicated. Delayed reporting is extremely common in rape cases (National Victim Center and the Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, 1992), and there is evidence that intoxicated individuals are at increased risk of being targeted by sexual predators (Abbey, Zawackia, Buck, Clinton, & McAuslan, 2004; Macy, Nurius, & Norris, 2007; Ullman, 2003). Any of the circumstances listed above can be present in a case that is ultimately deter- mined to be a false allegation, but the presence of any of these circumstances does not by itself mean that a case can be so classified. Uncertainties in the Law Enforcement Classification Process Law enforcement agencies in the United States and in other countries classify rape cases according to set guidelines; in the United States, these guidelines are provided by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Handbook (FBI, 2004). For example, the UCR stipulates that the category “unfounded” is reserved for “a complaint that is determined through investigation to be false or baseless. In other words, no crime occurred. If the investigation shows that no offense occurred nor was attempted, UCR Program procedures dictate that the reported offense must be unfounded . .” (FBI, 2004, p. 77). The Handbook stipulates Lisak et al. 1321 that the refusal of a victim to cooperate or the failure to make an arrest do not constitute reasons to classify a case as unfounded. The UCR guidelines also make clear that the category of “unfounded” is broader than the category of false allegation, since “unfounded” includes cases that are determined to be “baseless.” A case can be classified as “baseless” if, for example, a victim reports an incident that, while truthfully recounted, does not meet, in the eyes of investigators, the legal definition of a sexual assault. For example, if a victim reports to the police that she was raped while she was intoxicated, and truthfully states that she cannot clearly recall whether there was penetration, investigators might classify such a case as “baseless/unfounded.” This classification is clearly distinct from a case in which a victim deliberately fabricates an account of being raped, yet the “unfounded” category is very often equated with the category of “false allegation.” Similar guidelines govern the classification of cases in Great Britain, where the category “unfounded” is termed “no crime” (Rumney, 2006). Despite these guidelines, numerous studies have discovered that the misclassification of cases by law enforcement agencies is routine. Cases in which the victim is unable or unwilling to cooperate, in which evidence is lacking, in which the victim makes inconsis- tent statements, or in which the victim was heavily intoxicated frequently get classified as “unfounded” or “no-crimed” (e.g., Gregory & Lees, 1996; IACP, 2005b; Kelly et al., 2005; Rumney, 2006). This confusion about the classification of rape cases and about what actually constitutes a false report is addressed directly in the IACP’s policy statement (IACP, 2005b). The IACP policy paper states: The term “unfounded” is commonly defined as “lacking a sound base, groundless, unwarranted.” It is synonymous with another term often used by law enforcement in child abuse cases: “unsubstantiated.” Both terms are used to code and administratively clear sexual assault cases that are often mislabeled as “false allegations.”.
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